Did You Have To Leave?
by Akari Aika-Again and Again
Summary: After 5 years of hoping and waiting, Sakura finally decides to take it into her own hands. She's determined to find Sasuke and hopefully bring him back. Will Sasuke finally return the feelings? Or will he reject her again?
1. The Choice

A pink haired kunoichi walked around Konoha late one night. She was lost in thought and ended up near the entrance of Konoha. There was a stone, cold bench. Memories had flooded back to her head from that final night.

_-flashback-_

_"What are you doing here late at night? Just out for a stroll?" Sasuke asked._

_"In order to leave the village, you have to take this road." Sakura replied._

_"Go home and sleep." Sasuke said._

_Sasuke walked past her as tears rolled down Sakura's face._

_"Why?" Sakura asked._

_She turned around to face him._

_"Why won't you say anything to me? Why do you shut everyone out? Why won't you tell me anything?" Sakura asked._

_"Why do I have to tell you anything? Stop bothering me all the time." Sasuke said._

_"You always act like you hate me, Sasuke-kun. I know what happened to your clan. But revenge won't make anyone happy. Not you...nor me." Sakura said._

_"__I know that."Sasuke said._

___"Are you going to be alone all by yourself? You told me that being alone is painful. I have family and friends, but if you leave for me... it's the same thing as being alone." Sakura told._

___"From this point on, new paths will start." Sasuke said._

_"I love you more than anything! If you're by my side, I will make sure that you won't regret it. I would do anything for you. That's why I'm begging you. Please stay here. I will even help you with your revenge. That's why...please stay here with me, if not, please take me with you." Sakura confessed._

_"After all this time, you're still annoying." Sasuke said._

_He turned and walked away. She ran a few steps._

_"Don't leave!If you leave, I'll scream loud and..."Sakura paused._

_"Sakura...Thank you..." Sasuke said._

_-end of flashback-_

"I'm going to find you...I'm coming Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered.

She ran to her house and packed kunais, shurikens, and food. She walked to the entrance of Konoha and took one last look back at her home. Sakura was leaving everything behind, friends, family, her mentor, all but one, her one love, who instead left her years ago. With that she quickly disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Meanwhile, a raven haired shinobi was walking around the forest. There were three people following behind him. One was a girl, she had really bad haircut, with red hair, and glasses. The other two were boys, one was skinny, with light blue hair and sharp teeth with a sword on his back,Suigestsu. The other had orange hair and had a calm expression on his face,Jugo.

"Where are we Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked.

"I think we're near Kusagakure." Sasuke answered.

"Isn't that near Konoha?" Suigestu asked.

Sasuke seemed to tense up a bit when Suigestu said the word. It's been five years since he left there. There was a sound in the bushes. They all got ready to fight. Out came Sakura, she looked into Sasuke's dark onyx eyes.

"Sasuke...kun..."Sakura whispered.


	2. We Finally Meet Again

Sakura just stood as she saw looked into the dark onyx eyes. The eyes of the boy she fell in love with, became teammates with, friends, and the one that broke her heart. She's played what would actually happen when she first saw him again for years. Now that it's actually happening, she was too shocked and happy to actually move. Sasuke made the first move.

"What are you doing here Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"You know her Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked.

_'Sasuke-kun?' Sakura thought._

"I...I came looking for you Sasuke-kun..I couldn't keep waiting, hoping, that Naruto was going to be able to bring you back himself. So, I took matters into my own hand...and-" Sakura said.

"I'm not going back to Konoha. I thought it was clear why I left the village." Sasuke interrupted.

"I know why you left...but that's why I'm here to help you now. I saw Itachi once..." Sakura said.

"You-You saw him? When?" Sasuke asked.

"It was last year but-" Sakura answered.

"Useless..." Sasuke said.

"Well, I was going to say before you cut me off again, that if you had stayed with us, Team 7, you would've had a chance to fight to him, and get your revenge! You left us! You abandoned us! Do you know what it was like when we became Team 7 again?" Sakura said.

_-flashback-_

_"We were Team 7." Sakura said._

_"Three-man call, huh?" Naruto said._

_"Back then, we had Sasuke with us..." Kakashi said._

_Sakura and Naruto get all depressed._

_"Sasuke's name is taboo around them." Kakashi thought._

_-flashback ends-_

"We got the bells Sasuke...remember? We couldn't get them when we turned Genin, but we got it that time." Sakura told.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with a calm, but also shocked face. He couldn't believe how they improved. Sakura actually yelled at Sasuke, when they were Genin all she would do is adore and praise him.

_'She's changed.' Sasuke thought._

_'Was he always this cold? No... he wasn't.' Sakura thought._

"Sasuke-kun, please, let me help you. I said I would help you with your revenge five years ago, and I still mean it now." Sakura confessed.

"Even if you were to become a missing nin?" Sasuke asked.

"I wouldn't have left if I cared about that. I left my headband behind." Sakura answered.

She was right, she didn't have the headband on the top of her head like she usually does. Sasuke looked at her and felt differently about her. She wasn't a whiny, weak genin anymore. She was a strong, beautiful medic chunin.

"Please Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said.

"Alright.." Sasuke agreed.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"What? Sasuke-kun! You really want...this...this...this inexperienced weak kunoichi with us?" Karin asked.

"Weak? You think I'm weak?" Sakura asked.

Sakura put on her glove, concentrated all the chakra into her fist and punched the boulder that was three times her size to smithereens. Sasuke gave a smirk,and Suigestsu was impressed. Karin was scared, but didn't show it. Jugo was calm as he usually he is until he has the urge to kill.

"Now do you think I'm weak?" Sakura asked.

She walked past Karin bumping into her shoulder. They all walked and Karin stood there in shock for about 10 seconds before catching up with the rest of them.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto was at Icharuka, Shikamaru appeared. Naruto was on his 10th ramen bowl, it's amazing that he isn't broke by now from all the ramen he eats in one day.

"What are you doing here Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Hokage-sama wants to see you, Sai and Kakashi, but I'm sure Sai and Kakashi is already there by now." Shikamaru answered.

"What for?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know! I'm just the messenger, go find out yourself." Shikamaru answered.

"Fine! Here's the money for the ramen Mr.!" Naruto shouted.

He put the money on the counter and ran off toward the Hokage tower. He burst into the office with his usual, pumped up self.

"What did you need to see me for Tsunade-baachan?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura has gone missing. I'm sending you three to go find her! Go now!" Tsunade ordered.

"Wait! Why is she missing? Was she kidnapped?" Naruto asked.

"We don't know for sure, but... we think she may have left to look for...Uchiha Sasuke..." Tsunade answered.

"How can you just assume that? We promised to look for him together!" Naruto shouted.

"Someone had overheard her say 'I'm going to find you...I'm coming Sasuke-kun.' and then she disappeared." Tsuande said.

Naruto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

_'What is Sakura thinking going alone by herself? She could get killed out there by herself!' Naruto thought._

"Go now! Go find Sakura and bring her back!" Tsunade ordered.

With that, Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi disappeared.

* * *

Team Hebi and Sakura had set up camp after 5 hours of traveling, from the looks of it it was about 2 am.

"So Sakura, how did you find me?" Sasuke asked.

"I didn't intentionally...I was first going to head to Otogakure to find any clues since you last killed Orochimaru, and work from there, but meeting you here has made that much easier." Sakura said.

"You're different now, you're stronger, you're less annoying, and beautiful..." Sasuke said the last word subconsciously.

"W-What?" Sakura asked.

She was red in the cheeks, and Karin whipped her head to them with her mouth open. Suigestu was also in shock and grinning, and well Jugo you can probably guess.

"Whoa, Sasuke. Didn't know you were capable of showing that much emotion to someone." Suigestu joked.

"Shut up." Sasuke said.

With that, he got up and walked further into the woods, leaving a shocked Sakura and a jealous Karin.


	3. Decisions

Well, people keep favoriting but not really reviewing, so please review! :) Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Sasuke was at least a mile away from their campsite. He replayed what had just happened back in his head. The words that came out of his own mouth had shocked him. What would now happen between Sakura and Karin. He smirked at the thought. Karin would probably be beaten to a bloody pulp by Sakura. He looked up at the clouds in the sky. No matter where he went, the sky was always the same. What was he feeling toward Sakura? He always thought she was annoying and weak, but she was always so nice, sweet, and cute toward him.

"Could I have felt this way this whole time?" Sasuke whispered.

A scream was heard in the distance. It was back at the camp. Sasuke ran as fast as he can, getting out his sword only to find that Sakura had punched Karin, and that an enemy didn't appear. He quickly put it away and smirked at them.

"What happened here?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke-ku~~~~~~~n!" Karin called out.

"Karin," Sakura said with a sneer. "Threatened me to stay away from you, and I quote 'I don't care about your history with MY Sasuke-kun, you are to stay away from him you ugly whore.' So I punched her."

"Is this true?" Sasuke asked.

"Tch." Karin said as she looked away.

"So, it is." Sasuke said.

"Well, I couldn't let her steal you away from me!" Karin said.

"I was NEVER yours." Sasuke said.

"But, Sasuke-ku-" Karin said.

"No, I was never yours. You are a tool in my plan to kill Itachi. Nothing more." Sasuke said.

Sakura smirked at Karin, Sasuke gave Sakura a look to stop it and she stopped. Sakura turned around and made it look like she was preparing for a fire. Sasuke sighed and walked over to Sakura.

"Stand back, Sakura." Sasuke told.

Sakura took a couple steps back, as Sasuke did some signs.

"Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke said.

With that, the fire was lit.

"It sure has been a while since I heard or seen that, well at least from you." Sakura said.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, when Naruto and I fought Kakashi again, he used it. Oh! And he did a genjutsu that you escaped from Orochimaru. You were all bloody and had kunais sticking out of you." Sakura told.

"Really?" Sasuke asked smirking.

"Yeah, but we knew it wasn't you, as much as we hoped it was..." Sakura whispered the last part.

Tears fell down her cheeks and Sasuke hugged her from behind, and Sakura's eyed got wide, then she closed her eyes and put her hands on top of his. Karin broke the plate she was holding in her hand and stomped off into the woods. Suigetsu snickered at Karin's reaction.

"This is going to be interesting." Suigetsu said.

He turned and walked after so she doesn't do anything stupid. Jugo had also left the other way to give them some privacy. Sakura turned and looked at Sasuke in the eyes. He leaned in closer, just inches away from her lips. She went on her tiptoes and kissed him. They turned away blushing, realizing what they had just done. Their hearts were pouding like crazy.

"Sakura, I-I've always loved you. That night, I just couldn't tell you because I thought if I told you that you were annoying instead of that it would be easier for you that way." Sasuke said.

"Nothing, nothing could've made that night easier. I love you Sasuke, I always will." Sakura said.

"Sakura..."Sasuke said.

"I hate to break the moment but, will you ever come back home?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke stared at her, mixed with shock and little anger. How could she ask that? He was a missing-nin! Now she was also! They can't go back, unless they wanted to die. He couldn't do that to them, to her.

"We can't go back Sakura, we're missing-nin. If we go back, we'll be killed..." Sasuke said.

"No, we won't. I left for you. Remember what Kakashi-sensei said? 'In the world of ninjas, those who break the rules are scum. But those who don't take care of their friends are even worse scum.' And you're our friend. You're a part of Team 7.'" Sakura said.

"I remember." Sasuke said.

"So you'll come back?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke bit his lip and looked at Sakura. He was sure they'd execute him if he were to go back. Why wouldn't they? He betrayed Konoha to go to Orochimaru, and attacked the Kage Summit. He was now an international criminal. How can he face them all again after all he did? But, if there was even a little shimmer of hope, he wouldn't be executed.

"Okay, I'll come back." Sasuke answered.

"I'm so happy Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried happily.

She hugged him, and he hugged her back. She still loved him after all this time. Even after calling her annoying, both the first and last time they saw each other, and since he completely broke her heart that night.

"I love you..." Sakura said.

"I love you too." Sasuke said.

They kissed again. Karin, Suigestu, and Jugo had come back. Karin had her hand close to her holster, about to grab a kunai and throw it at Sakura's head. Suigestu coughed and they noticed. Sakura turned red and looked away, as Sasuke looked straight at them, calm as always.

"There are leaf ninjas near by. I heard them talking about Sakura." Suigestu told.

"What did they look like?" Sasuke asked.

"One was silver haired, probably late 20's, blonde and black haired kids about your ages, and a dog." Suigestu answered.

"Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sai, and Pakkun." Sakura said.

"We need to go now." Sasuke said.

"Wait, but even if we leave now, they'll find us. They have a track of my scent." Sakura said.

"Okay, Sakura, Karin, you two need to switch shirts." Sasuke said.

"What? There is no way we're helping her!" Karin said.

"Fine, then how about we get caught? Sasuke and I will get caught and what will happen to you three? Me and Sasuke may live, but what about you guys? And there's no way they'll let Sasuke outside of the village for a long time, and he may not get his revenge. So tell me, do you still want to be of use to Sasuke-kun? Or do you just want to be caught and become completely useless. It's your choice." Sakura said.

"...Fine!" Karin said.

They went a couple feet into the woods and switched shirts. They came back out and made their teams. Karin, Suigestu, and Jugo, much to Karin's dismay. And Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke explained that he couldn't be risked getting seen, or they would try to take him back as well. The only way was to split up into these two teams. After that, they went into two different directions.

* * *

Pakkun stopped and sniffed the air for Sakura's scent. The rest stopped and looked at Pakkun.

"Why are we stopping? Sakura is here somewhere! And possibly even with that bastard! Why are we just standing here?" Naruto asked.

"I smell her scent in two different directions. One going east, and one going west." Pakkun replied.

"That means they we were found out. Okay, Naruto! Sai! You two go east. Pakkun and I will go west. If you find Sakura and/or Sasuke, stay on track and follow them from behind and tell us through these." Kakashi said.

Kakashi took out headsets and tossed them to Naruto. Naruto and Sai took them, put them on, and left towards the east.

"Sasuke! Where are you? And Sakura-chan... why did you go? We said we'd find him together and bring him back, but if you found him, why aren't you coming back?" Naruto thought.

In a couple minutes they saw a tint of pink and black close to each other. Naruto put his hand on his headset and gave the news to Kakashi.

"We found them Kakashi-sensei. They're together." Naruto reported.

"Okay, we'll be there in two minutes, stay behind them and don't make any movements to show yourself. Just keep trailing behind them!" Kakashi said."

* * *

Kakashi and Pakkun turned and ran towards Naruto and Sai's direction. They finally caught up to Naruto and Sai, like he said, in two minutes.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto said.

"We need to corner them now, Sai, draw a bird and fly us in front of them. Naruto, you and Pakkun will corner them from behind. Let's go!" Kakashi ordered.

Sai drew the bird and he and Kakashi got on, they swooped down in front of Sakura and Sasuke in a matter of 10 seconds. Sakura and Sasuke put the arms in front of their face from the wind the bird was creating. Naruto and Pakkun arrived and cornered them from behind.

"What are you doing Sakura? You found Sasuke! Why didn't you come back home?" Naruto asked.

"I...I'm going to help Sasuke-kun in his revenge." Sakura said.

"B-But! We promised to bring Sasuke back, not help him with his revenge!" Naruto said.

"Things have changed Naruto." Sakura said.

"Sakura! Sasuke! You two are my students, come back now and I'll make sure you two will not be executed, and we can work on defeating Itachi together." Kakashi said.

"No! We have to find him and kill him no-" Sakura said.

"We'll go back." Sasuke said.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You want to go back home don't you? But, I do have a couple conditions." Sasuke said.

"Conditions? How can you ask for conditions when you're the one that left Kono-" Naruto said.

"Wait Naruto. Let's here them out first. What are your conditions Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"One, if we ever find Itachi, I'm going to fight him, I'm going to kill him. Just me." Sasuke said.

"Done." Kakashi said.

"And, make sure Sakura doesn't get any punishment whatsoever." Sasuke said.

"But Sakura also left." Kakashi said.

"But it was to find me. Remember Kakashi. 'In the world of ninjas, those who break the rules are scum. But those who don't take care of their friends are even worse scum.' And that is what Sakura did. Try to take care of me." Sasuke said.

"That's right, I did say that. Alright then. It's settled, let's go home shall we?" Kakashi asked with a smile.

They left toward Konoha, Sakura looked at Sasuke, and smiled. Sakura felt a drop of water hit her face and looked up. It started to rain. The clouds were crying, but not because they were sad, but this time, they were happy. Sasuke was coming back, he was coming home. She was also glad it rained, considering it would mask their scent of where they were going. Suigestu, Jugo, and...Karin wouldn't be able to find them, not for a while anyways. After a couple hours they arrived home, they walked towards to Hokage tower to report to Tsunade-sama. Sakura's and more importantly, Sasuke's punishment was about to be confirmed.

* * *

A/N: I do not know when the next chapter will be up, I guess it depends on the reviews or favoriting and alerts. Please write more reviews so I know who still reads this story. It will get better I promise! Review please!


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